


The Key to the Future

by Linorien



Series: 007 Fest 2016 [1]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies), James Bond - All Media Types
Genre: 007 Fest, Historical AU, M/M, Team Q Branch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-19 17:57:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7371880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linorien/pseuds/Linorien
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A younger renaissance artist begins to fall in love with a man of some importance. This was not what he had planned on happening.<br/>Diary format.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Key to the Future

**Author's Note:**

> The image used is by an artist named Turner. Not the same Turner though.
> 
> Prompt table 004-Historical AU

[ ](http://imgur.com/daFNaXo)

 

May 1st, 1478

 

I met someone new today. I suppose that is not an unusual statement for an artist like myself. Every week people come into my studio to sit for portraits. But not all of them insist on treating me for lunch. And what a lunch it was. A small cafe that overlooked the Mediterranean Sea, the most smooth wine I’ve ever tasted, and a wonderful conversational partner. I could have stayed all day if the cursed city bells did not remind me that I had work to do. He has promised to come again.

* * *

 

May 28th, 1478

 

Truly, I am being spoiled. Every week for lunch he comes by to take me to a favourite restaurant of his. Every time he insists on paying. I think he wants a something in return, but when I ask he says he craves only my good company and intelligent conversations.

* * *

 

July 2nd, 1478

 

Today we have spent the entire day out on the water. I wish he had warned me, but instead I am going to bed as red as a lobster. Yet, were he to ask again, I would happily accompany him on his family ship. I would only request an umbrella.

* * *

 

September 8th, 1478

 

Shit. I have no idea what to do. My heart is at war with my head and my key burns dangerously in my pocket. He told me his name was James. He did not tell me his surname was de’ Medici. I only found out when they commissioned a family portrait and gathered in my studio. Everyone knows the de’ Medici family is at the heart of the Italian mafia. One of the most powerful families in all of mainland Europe. And I’ve been developing a closer than friendship with one of them. I am so screwed if anyone in his family finds out. His marital mansion waits for a foreign princess, not for a decidedly male artist. I do not belong here.

* * *

 

September 10th, 1478

 

James knocked on my door today. Right at our usual lunch hour. I pretended I wasn’t home. I hid where I knew he would never find me and watched as he looked around inside. He checked my studio next in case I got caught up in work and had lost track of time. I had not. I hadn’t been able to focus all day, constantly checking the time. I can’t help but notice he looked worried when he left.

* * *

 

September 17th, 1478

 

He came again. Didn’t knock this time. He searched again, but not as long as before. He stood in the middle of the room and called out for me, saying he knew I was there, saying he was sorry he never told me, saying he wanted to be just James to me, not a de’ Medici heir. He said he would be back next week. It sounded almost like a threat. And yet, I can’t help but notice he looked guilty when he left.

* * *

 

September 18th, 1477

 

He sent flowers and a bottle of the wine we had at our first lunch.

* * *

 

September 24th, 1478

 

I can’t do it. I can’t hide again. He has sent flowers every day. The mafia can’t be so dense as to not notice that. And still no one has come for me. Maybe it really wouldn't be as bad as I feared. Besides, I miss him.

* * *

 

September 25th, 1478

 

Everything is going to be okay. He said he understood why I would be frightened. He promised he would protect me. It  was stilted conversation at first, but as we walked home, our arms were linked.

* * *

 

February 3rd, 1479

 

I told him I could take him somewhere that he would not have to worry about the family legacy or about what others may think of our union. He told me none of that mattered as long as I was by his side. Already his sister Teresa does more to run the family business than he ever had. It would be in good hands. I remembered then why I had come here, what I had hoped to find out. I just never knew I was the cause.

* * *

 

February 14th, 1479

 

He doesn’t know this date and he probably never will. But for us this is the day we pledged ourselves to each other. The first day a woman was officially the head of the de’ Medici household. The day I pressed a key into his hands and told him to guard it with his life. He asked what it opened. I told him it was the key to my future. Maybe he would never know how literal that was. But for now, we are both happily together in 1479.

**Author's Note:**

> Q totally doesn't actually paint their pictures. He has a camera set up and then goes back into his workshop/time machine to print the image onto some nice canvas and then frame it.


End file.
